Using Onboarding to Increase Legal Support Retention Rates

One of the largest expenses for employers is employee turnover. In the legal industry the impact can be even greater. With the specialized knowledge required to work in a law firm, the learning curve for new employees is much steeper than in other industries.

The right onboarding process could be the key to retaining your best people.

Engage before the first day. Have HR send any forms that need to be completed ahead of time, so that the employee doesn’t get bogged down in paperwork the first day. Encourage the new person’s manager or supervisor to reach out via email before their start date. This will help the new employee feel like part of the team before they walk through the door the first day.

Establish a consistent process. The quality of the onboarding process shouldn’t depend on who each employee reports to. Create a checklist to standardize how each new person will be brought on board so that they all begin on equal footing.

Don’t mistake orientation for onboarding. Orientation entails taking care of paperwork, telling people where to sit and where to grab coffee. Onboarding lays the groundwork that leads to success on the job.

Set clear expectations. Tell new employees what is expected of them and what metric you use to measure success. Give them milestones they should reach at thirty, sixty and ninety days. Schedule reviews to ensure they stay on track. Provide projects to work on between tasks so they don’t have to keep asking for work.

Assign a mentor. Have a single person for the new employee to go to with any questions or concerns. It should be someone who knows the ropes, enjoys training and has a generally positive outlook. This will encourage the new employee to ask questions without fear of judgment and contributes to employee engagement

What about Temporary Employees?

What does retention have to do with temporary employees? If you build a bench of trained knowledgeable temporaries, you can draw upon them when you need them for future projects. Make sure that your company is one that they would like to return to. Their supervisor should not treat temporary employees like second class citizens. Rather, they should go out of the way to acknowledge their contribution and make them feel like part of the team.

At Kent Legal, our experienced recruiters can help you find and retain the legal support staff you need in Toronto. Contact us today to learn more about our legal support recruiting services in Toronto. We look forward to hearing from you!

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